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Netherlands qualify as hosts and are exempt from qualifying. Of UEFA's 52 member countries, only the Faroe Islands chose not to compete. That left 50 nations attempting to qualify for the 7 remaining spots at the finals.
The competition's structure is as follows:
The 16 lowest ranked nations played-off (on a home-and-away basis) before the qualifying group stage, to eliminate 8 teams.
The remaining 42 teams formed 14 three-team groups, each team playing one home match and one away match.
The 14 group winners played-off (on a home-and-away basis) to decide the seven qualifying nations.